Hong Kong’s Architectural Services Department has been studying the use of new technology to improve the efficiency of heritage conservation, and help users to keep historical buildings from the impact of rain and termites, according to the city’...

Procter & Gamble has sought to reassure Chinese consumers that its products sold in the country are safe, after it recalled some lines from its popular Pantene and Herbal Essences brands in North America due to the presence of a cancer-causing chemic...

In the latest developments surrounding the brawl between the celebrity Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter Wang Leehom and his Taiwanese wife Lee Jinglei, Wang’s father Wang Ta-chung overnight issued a handwritten defence of Leehom, claiming that ...

Vladimir Putin is likely to become the first world leader to meet Xi Jinping in person for almost two years after the Russian president confirmed he would attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.The two held a video call on Wednesday, in wh...

Health experts called on the Hong Kong government to tighten quarantine rules for cargo aircrew after a Cathay Pacific pilot brought the Omicron variant into the community, while authorities confirmed eight more Covid-19 cases on Sunday.But officials...

The Hong Kong Observatory on Monday will decide whether to issue its first December typhoon warning in 47 years, as Tropical Cyclone Rai moves across the central part of the South China Sea.According to the forecaster, Rai was located about 1,000km s...

Four people died and eight others were injured after a 500-metre stretch of expressway flyover collapsed in central China’s Hubei province on Saturday, according to state media.The collapse occurred at around 3.30pm in Ezhou, a city about 40km (25 ...

Whenever Yang Li turns on her phone she is flooded with pleas for help from parents desperate to secure vital epilepsy medicine for their children.The 42-year-old from Fujian province in southeast China and other members of her WeChat groups are at c...

Indonesia’s Semeru volcano on Java island erupted early on Sunday, spewing an ash column 2km (1.24 mile) high and prompting authorities to warn people to stay away from the eruption range.Earlier this month, the eruption of Semeru, Java’s tallest...

Australian officials on Sunday said there was no need to clamp down on Christmas festivities even as new Covid-19 infections climbed in Sydney, with the country’s high vaccination rate helping keep people out of hospital.Health Minister Greg Hunt s...

The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a change in dietary habits in India where many are shifting to more health-conscious food choices to boost their immune system.In recent times, Indians have added a new flavour to their expansive vegetarian palate: s...

At least 112 people have been reported killed in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, official tallies showed on Sunday, as efforts to deliver water and food to devastated islands ramped up.More than 300,000 people fled their homes...

China underlined its opposition to “any politicisation of human rights issues”, as the UN rights council in Geneva voted to set up a three-member team to investigate abuses in the Ethiopian civil war.This comes after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang...

Torrential rains in Malaysia have caused flooding that has driven more than 29,000 people from their homes, closed dozens of roads and disrupted shipping, authorities said.More than 66,000 police, army and fire department personnel have been mobilise...

The sudden death of a young programmer at Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, regarded as a “genius” and one of the country’s best hopes in making world-class video games, has sent shock waves across the industry.Shenzhen-based Tencent con...

It is 8am on Sunday and about 40 boys and girls in blue jerseys and knee-high socks stand ready at the Farrer Park Field in central Singapore. For the next hour, these three- to eight-year-olds will work on football drills and compete against each ot...

As part of SCMP’s commitment to provide our readers with comprehensive coverage of the election, we have made this live blog available for free. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The first election for Hong Kong's leg...

A Chinese flotilla led by the country’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is entering the Pacific Ocean for a high seas training exercise.The drill is taking place as American aircraft carriers either sail to the Indian Ocean or their home port...

Under mounting pressure from Western sanctions, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has turned to his “ironclad friend” China for support.While Beijing has welcomed Minsk’s overtures, some diplomatic observers have warned that China should b...

Newly obtained Pentagon documents show that the US air wars in the Middle East have been marked by “deeply flawed intelligence” and resulted in thousands of civilian deaths, including many children, The New York Times reported on Saturday.It said...

Former Brexit negotiator David Frost resigned from the British government with immediate effect on Saturday, topping a torrid week for Prime Minister Boris Johnson after a party rebellion on new coronavirus curbs and by-election humiliation.Frost, a ...

The World Anti-Doping Agency said on Saturday it would investigate allegations that disgraced Chinese swimming star Sun Yang had broken the terms of his ban from the sport.Britain’s The Times newspaper reported that the three-time Olympic champion ...

Russia sent a pair of nuclear-capable long-range bombers to patrol the skies over Belarus on Saturday, a mission intended to underline close defence ties between the two allies amid tensions with the West.The Russian Defence Ministry said the two Tu-...

Georgia’s jailed opposition leader and ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili has developed serious neurological conditions as a result of torture and ill-treatment in custody, an independent council of doctors said Saturday.Saakashvili had refused food ...

The Netherlands will go into lockdown over the Christmas period to try to stop a surge of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Saturday.All non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theatres must...

Several thousand people have protested in Hamburg against the coronavirus measures in place in Germany. According to the police, they marched in several blocks through the city centre on Saturday.“No to compulsory vaccination!” was written on man...

From a tie to two BMW cars to a box of Cuban cigars – not to mention his parents’ home – nearly 90 items once belonging to late Argentine football superstar Diego Maradona will go on the virtual auction block on Sunday in an international sale ...

Britain reported a surge in cases of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday, and London’s mayor declared a “major incident” to help the capital’s hospitals following a sharp rise in Covid-19 admissions.The total number of ...

Two days after celebrity Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter Wang Leehom announced he was divorcing his Taiwanese wife Lee Jinglei, she responded with an Instagram post alleging a long list of indiscretions including infidelity and soliciting prosti...

A former Hong Kong leader has called on the government to be bolder in pushing for reforms following Beijing’s overhaul of the electoral system to ensure only “patriots” held power.Speaking a day ahead of Sunday’s Legislative Council poll, fo...

China’s ambassador to the European Union has said the two sides should improve communication instead of trying to force their will on each other.In a farewell message wrapping up his four-year tenure in Brussels on Saturday, Zhang Ming said the two...

The rags-to-riches Chinese tycoon Xie Zhikun, whose investment portfolio had triggered concerns about debt risk among the financial authorities, has died aged 61.A statement by Zhongzhi Enterprise Group (ZEG), which Xie founded, said the tycoon had d...

A one-year-old boy believed to have been sent by his parents to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing alone has made it safely to the Italian island of Lampedusa, Italian media reports said on Saturday.The child, estimated to be barely a year old...

China has offered to send criminal investigation experts to Nigeria to help tackle the country’s security problems.The Chinese ambassador Cui Jianchun disclosed the offer on Wednesday during an event at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria to celebrate...

Turkey will send 15 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Africa, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday at a major summit of the continent’s leaders, adding that the low vaccination rates there were a blot on humanity.Ankara has invested...

With the phase-one trade deal between the world’s two largest economies due to expire at year’s end, Chinese scholars say supply-side issues are an impediment to China’s ability to meet purchasing targets.Multiple sources in China also told the...

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Saturday they will resume issuing passports in Kabul, giving hope to citizens who feel threatened living under the Islamists’ rule.Thousands of Afghans have also applied for new travel documents to escape...

Moves by key Arab states to end the isolation of war-torn Syria are strengthening China’s position as attention shifts gradually to the country’s reconstruction.Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates recently struck three power deals with the...

A powerful gas explosion in a sewage system in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi killed at least 10 people and injured 13 others on Saturday, police and a health official said.“At least 10 people have lost their lives in the blast,” said Waqa...

Interest in studying in Australia has exploded among Hongkongers, education consultants have reported, after the country became the latest to ease immigration rules for residents from the financial hub.An Australian and United Kingdom education expo ...

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election on Sunday will be its first under a Beijing overhaul of the political system to ensure only “patriots” can govern the city.A total of 153 hopefuls are vying for 90 seats in the expanded Legco after being...

Chinese officials should “resolutely hit back” whenever confronted by the West on human rights, President Xi Jinping instructed China’s ruling elite in 2014, a new book has revealed.In a February meeting that year, just 11 months into his first...

Thousands of Hong Kong factories in a Dongguan town in Guangdong have been caught in limbo by a lockdown in the district, with the flow of people and goods stalled amid a surge in Covid-19 infections.Danny Lau Tat-pong, honorary chairman of the Hong ...

China is sending winter supplies to Afghanistan, which is facing an acute financial and humanitarian crisis.Diplomatic observers said the aid and infrastructure would help build ties with the Taliban.The Taliban, which seized power in August followin...

Portugal, one of the countries with the highest Covid-19 vaccination rates worldwide, began inoculating over-fives on Saturday, and France said it was ready to roll out jabs for them from next week.Europe is currently battling to rein in the spread o...

Japanese police on Saturday searched the house of one of the patients at a mental clinic where a fire gutted an entire floor in an eight-storey building, killing 24 people trapped inside.An Osaka police investigator said the man is a possible suspect...

A quarantine-exempt Cathay Pacific cargo pilot has been confirmed as the first carrier of the coronavirus’ more transmissible Omicron variant to enter the Hong Kong community.The confirmation brings the total number of Omicron infections recorded i...

Foreign nations should realise by now that China’s so-called over the top approach in handling the pandemic was the correct one, the country’s top respiratory expert has said, as the Omicron variant spreads around the world at record-breaking pac...

US lawmakers confirmed Rahm Emanuel as the country’s next ambassador to Japan Saturday, after a contentious nomination process in which fellow Democrats opposed the former Chicago mayor over his record on police violence.Senators confirmed Emanuel ...

At least 33 people were killed in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, official tallies showed on Saturday.More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Typhoon Rai ravaged the southern and central regions of ...